Moral Crumple Zones: Cautionary Tales in Human-Robot Interaction

Madeleine Clare Elish

In this article, Research Lead Madeleine Clare Elish investigates who bears the responsibility when an automated system fails.

“Just as the crumple zone in a car is designed to absorb the force of impact in a crash, the human in a highly complex and automated system may become simply a component—accidentally or intentionally—that bears the brunt of the moral and legal responsibilities when the overall system malfunctions.”